Week 1 Blog Assignment

Part 1:  Introduce yourself to us. Tell us about your current and future professional goals.

My name is Erica Heuschkel, and I am from Connecticut. I earned my Bachelor’s degree in 2015 and spent 6 years working in substitute teaching and math tutoring. During that time, I was offered a full-time position as a middle school math tutor. Although initially hesitant (excited about the content but nervous about the age range, since my degree was in elementary education) I accepted the role. I quickly discovered that I loved teaching this age group of middle schoolers. I later cross-endorsed to become certified in 7-8 math and began a full-time position as a 7th grade math teacher in my hometown. This is my fourth year teaching there, and I truly enjoy it. I am currently completing my Master’s in Math Curriculum and Instruction as I am deeply passionate about the math curriculum and currently been collaborating with my team to ensure vertical alignment across grade levels with our new curriculum. After I complete my current master’s degree, I plan to pursue a second master’s in educational leadership, with the goal of eventually earning my 092 certification.

Part 2:  Review the ISTE standards for students and your state’s content standards.  Select a topic or group of standards from the discipline and grade level that interests you or that you plan to teach in the future and respond to the prompts below. Select one of the indicators under one student ISTE standard and describe a learning activity students could engage in to learn and/or demonstrate content knowledge and technology use proficiency.

Creative Communicator 6c asks students to use digital tools to visually communicate complex ideas to others. Students in a 7th grade math class could address the math standard 7.EE.B.3 by analyzing a multi step math equations that involves rational numbers. The teacher could present a problem that contains an intentional error on a digital platform such as Google Slides. Students would then be given the task to identify the error, explaining why it is incorrect, and then correcting it. Each student could be assigned a slide where they rewrite the problem, using color coding, annotations, and step-by-step explanations to demonstrate their reasoning. Once completed, students can view their peers’ slides, observe different approaches, and compare how each student explained and solved the problem. This allows for both independent and collaborative learning while giving students opportunities to reflect on multiple strategies and think critically about their own understanding. 

Part 3:  Discuss your insights for the lesson idea you provide above from your reading of Kolb’s Triple E Framework and provide support for your idea from her work.

Kolb’s Triple E Framework emphasizes using technology to support engagement, enhancement, and extension. My lesson incorporates all three: students are engaged while analyzing and correcting multi-step equations, it enhances learning by enabling visual communication and representation of their reasoning, and it extends learning through peer interaction, comparing strategies, and discussing solutions. I believe this lesson particularly meets the area of enhancement, as students not only demonstrate their understanding but also actively reflect on their strategies and evaluate whether they agree or would approach the problem differently. By combining technology, collaboration, and error analysis, students are going to to develop both mathematical proficiency and digital communication skills.